Twists in Time
by harrypotterlover317
Summary: Sophia, a Muggleborn, was sent back in time and befriended a young Tom Riddle at the orphanage. Their friendship develops, but is there the possibility of something more? And can their friendship give Tom the possibility of becoming good?
1. Before (or after?) the Beginning

Sophia sat at the diner, alone. She was on a club trip for a science competition, and the group had stopped at a diner for a buffet dinner. Sophia picked at her food, pretending that she didn't care that she was alone and probably stood out as a sore, friendless loser. She had a few good friends, but none were in this club. There were clear clique divisions, and she didn't fall into any of them. Her fellow sophomore girls were once pleasant to her, and she was once a part of their inner friend circle, but for some unknown reason, they began to exclude her until she was completely kicked out of their group. Sophia wasn't sure, but she figured that the fact that she was good friends with their crushes didn't help. The junior girls didn't know her well, and they didn't seem eager to get to know her. One of those girls, Karine, seemed to be irritated by the mere sound of her voice, and her face would contort into an expression of one who had just drank sour milk when Sophia would even be talking around her. The seniors were just...the seniors. Somehow, Sophia just couldn't mingle with them, though she was friendly with seniors from other clubs. Sophia sighed. _I just don't get it. Why me?_ she asked herself. _Why am I the one who's alone? The other girls aren't any better, cooler, or classier than I am. In fact, I'd say a few act so weird sometimes that I can just roll my eyes at them. But it still doesn't change the fact that I want to be included. That I want to feel loved by people other than family members_. She knew that she was sort of friendly with the guys, but she couldn't always hang out with them. Besides, the guys here mostly hung out with other guys, and she couldn't just join them like that, as the only girl. Especially since most were older.

"Hey, Sophia, do you want to come sit with us?" Iris asked. Sophia turned to Iris and her friends, the sophomore girls. A grin started to split her face until she remembered that Aline, the girl who seemed to be the one who actually hated her, wasn't there. _Right, she just passed me on the way to the dessert section_, Sophia thought bitterly. _That's why the other girls got the courage to even invite me. They wouldn't have done it otherwise_.

"Sure," Sophia replied anyways, still not wanting to be alone and naively hoping that she could integrate herself into the conversation. She managed to hold somewhat of a conversation with them, at least until Aline arrived. Later that night though, as Sophia and her roommates were going to sleep, Sophia felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

"Why me?" she whispered, her voice so quiet that she could barely hear herself. "Why am I so alone? I know I have two good friends, but that's not a lot at all. Most high schoolers have tons of friends, and have so much of a social life. They never have a problem with finding friends anywhere since they have so many. I'm nice enough to everyone, so I don't think there's a fundamental flaw. But I can't help but feel that no one cares enough to stick up for me if I'm wronged. And I can't help but feel that if I were to disappear, no one besides my family would really care or miss me." The tears that had been welling up spilled over. "After sixteen years of my life, I haven't affected too many people at all, I haven't made an impact on anyone. I feel so unimportant."

Sophia decided to read to take her mind off of things. She turned on her book light and read the book she brought with her, which happened to be Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. As she read it, her mind lingered on Tom Riddle's past.

"Wow, no wonder he became evil. He grew up in an orphanage where pretty much everyone mistreated him and didn't care about him, and they punished him for his magic, which wasn't his fault, and it's cool, not evil. So when he learned how to control his magic, of course he gets revenge, it's what I'd do! While I don't agree with everything he did, I can see his point. I just don't get why he'd want to be immortal, but I guess he believed that he was special enough for that. I also don't understand why he hates Muggleborns, because they understand about magic. Everyone needs a friend, though. I wish that I could've been his friend at the orphanage. I would've been supportive." Sophia knew all too well what it was like to be resented. She wasn't popular, and her friendships never worked out for too long. Even though she had parents and friends to tell her that she was special, she sometimes hated the whole world, and would be happy to make them realize her pain, because everyone who was close to her had hurt her in one way or another. Sometimes, she realized with wonder, she felt that Tom Riddle was right. The people who hurt her should at least feel the intense pain that she felt. They never understood what they did to her, and never cared. She knew that that was evil thinking, but she couldn't help it. And besides, other people couldn't judge her until they understood her.

Sophia went to sleep with these thoughts in her mind. The last thing she thought was "I wish that I could be there for Tom Riddle," before she fell asleep.

The next morning, she woke up in a dingy, gray room.


	2. The New Girl

Tom Riddle sat there in math class, studying. Class was yet to start, and the other kids were talking and fooling around. Tom didn't join them, though. They wanted nothing to do with him, the quiet freak, the loner. _Well, I want nothing to do with them either_, he thought. He was smarter than them, he knew. He taught himself how to do multiplication this year, while the other six-year-olds could barely do simple addition. He also knew about the sciences. Because Tom had nothing better to do than read, he knew basic astronomy, knew about several animals' life cycles, knew about plate tectonics and its effects, basic science like that. He knew, however, that the other childrens' minds were too petty to comprehend knowledge. _Just proof that I'm better than them, that I don't need them, don't need anybody_, Tom thought. Tom was reading about the rules of exponents when the door opened.

The math teacher came in, followed by a little girl their age. She had short, thick, raven-black hair, olive skin, and dark, brown-black eyes. She also had glasses. She looked around nervously, as if she had no idea why she was here. _Another new one_, Tom thought condensingly. Here was another foolish child who would probably annoy him to death.

"This is Sophia. She will be staying with us," said the math teacher curtly. Sophia took a seat at one of the half-broken, worn-out desks. She looked around, noticing people staring at her curiously, and the her eyes rested on Tom. She gave him a look that he couldn't decipher, then looked down at his book and smiled, and turned around to face the front.

"Okay class, we were working on higher-level addition. Can anyone tell me what is 11 + 4?" While the rest of the class started counting on their fingers, Tom raised his hand high in the air. He was surprised to find the new girl's hand in the air as well. Well, maybe she isn't a complete idiot, Tom thought.

"Yes, Sophia?" the math teacher seemed surprised as he called on her.

"15," Sophia replied quickly.

As the lesson progressed, it seemed that Sophia was pretty good at math. She could count by 2's, 3's, 4's, and 5's easily and fluently. To trip her up, the math teacher asked her to count by 9's, to try to silence her. Tom figured that he hated smart kids, since they made him look stupid for teaching easy concepts. He looked at Sophia interestedly. He wanted to see what she would do.

" 9,18, 27,...36,..45,...54,...63,...72,...81,...90!" Sophia beamed. She had paused after the bigger numbers, but she had managed it. The math teacher didn't bother her after that. Tom realized that she was at least somewhat intelligent. He was wondering whether he should talk to her or not. After all, the other kids at the orphanage hated him. He hated them too, of course, but he wondered whether Sophia would hate him too, simply because others did. If that was the case, then she was just a petty girl who followed crowds. It couldn't hurt to at least try to talk to her once. Who knew, she might even like him? He shook his head though, not willing to let himself get his hopes so high. He couldn't remember a time when his hopes for anything other than merely being able to stay alive had been fulfilled. He didn't need Sophia, or anyone, but he had decided to try and started to make his way to her at the end of class, when she came towards him and held her hand out.

"Hello, I'm Sophia. What's your name?"


	3. A New Home?

**A.N. Hey guys, I know I am rewriting parts of the previous chapter, but I feel that it's important, and even necessary, to show the scene from the other character's point of view. I promise that this trend won't continue for the entire story, only for the first few chapters. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Enjoy!**

Sophia looked around and saw that most of the kids seemed rowdy. She would just be happy to sit there quietly and read, or maybe even study. She didn't particularly love studying, but her dad had her do math beyond her grade level, and she found that she was good at it. Sophia was glad that math was first, because math was her favorite subject. As she was looking around the room, her eyes rested on a boy with dark brown hair, which clung to his scalp a little shiny and sticky with grease, stormy gray eyes with streaks of alternating dark and light gray within the irises, thin, chapped lips with peeling scabs, and a pale face, which seemed to be marked with a couple of bruises. She noticed the book in his hands, though, and smiled, glad to know that she wasn't the only studious kid around here. At her old school, she had been the smartest person, and while she liked that, she sometimes wished for competition. She turned around, not wanting to be caught for staring. She pondered over that boy, though. _Why does he have bruises on his face?_ Sophia wondered silently. _And his lips look like there was blood before. He seems like a nice, quiet boy, and he doesn't seem like he picks fights with people. Do people pick on him because he likes reading? I'll have to be careful around here. I have no idea how I got here, it doesn't look like anywhere in Ohio, and it doesn't seem like a nice place. Oh, I miss home!_

Math class was really easy for Sophia. She answered all of the questions correctly, even the hard ones that the teacher obviously threw at her to trick her."Ha! I feel smart!" Sophia thought. She noticed that the teacher had a weird accent. Now that she thought about it, so did all of the other kids when they talked. _Hmmm.._. Sophia thought. At the end of class, she decided that she wanted to talk to the quiet, dark-haired boy. She figured that he would be the best person to try to befriend, since he wouldn't make fun of her for being studious like the others could. At the end of class, she went up to him and held out her hand.

"Hi! I'm Sophia!" she said, and smiled. The boy took her hand and shook it, but his face showed no hint of a smile. If anything, his face had a calculating look on it.

"I'm Tom Riddle," the boy replied. _Why is he all doom and gloom?_ Sophia wondered. She decided to say something to break the silence, since she was a loud and talkative girl who found silence awkward and uncomfortable.

"So, the math class was pretty easy, wasn't it?" She asked.

"Yes, it was," Tom replied. "I already knew everything that we're learning since last year. I've taught myself more than the teachers have," he said smugly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. My dad taught me math beyond my grade level, and it was pretty easy to get the hang of it."

"You know, I haven't seen you around before. You also have a strange accent! Where are you from? How did you get here?" Tom asked. Sophia wasn't sure, but his voice seemed to have a demanding edge to it. She was rather surprised at his random turn of the conversation, and taken aback by his tone.

"You could've asked that in a bit of a nice tone, you know," Sophia replied. "Demanding it like that makes me not want to tell you. And besides, I don't have a strange accent; you do."

"Sorry," Tom replied politely. "I was just really curious that you ended up here, at this orphanage, and I didn't even notice. And I beg to differ about the fact that I have a 'weird accent'."

"It's okay," Sophia said cheerfully. She then became a little bit serious."But wait, I'm at an orphanage? Honestly, I don't know how I ended up here. I fell asleep in my own bed last night at home, and this morning, I woke up to find myself in one of the rooms with three other girls. I want to go home, because I'm pretty sure that I'm not an orphan, but I don't know where home is. Oh no! What if I really am... No! But that still wouldn't explain how I ended up here. I don't even know this place. I've never seen it in my city."

"Where are you from?" Tom asked.

"Mayfield," Sophia replied.

"Where's Mayfield? I've never heard of it."

"It's a city in Ohio," Sophia said.

"Ohio?" Tom asked. Wow, did this boy not know his states? Sophia thought.

"Hah! You're kidding! Okay, I'll go along with it. It's a state in the United States of America! And most normal people in the United States have accents like mine, so there!"

"What?" Tom practically yelled out of surprise.


	4. Standing Up to Bullies

Tom was curious. While Sophia was talking, he noticed her strange accent, and figured out that she wasn't around here. He had never heard an accent like hers, so he wasn't sure exactly where she was from. He figured that she must be from a neighboring country. _She must be Spanish, he thought, with her skin color and hair. Or maybe she's from a totally different and far-off country, but her family lived somewhere else, like in France. But then, how did she end up here?_ He decided to ask. It couldn't hurt, and she seemed nice enough, nicer than the kids at the orphanage.

"You know, I haven't seen you around before. You also have a strange accent! Where are you from? How did you get here?" Tom asked.

"You could've asked that in a bit of a nice tone, you know," Sophia replied. "Demanding it like that makes me not want to tell you. And besides, I don't have a strange accent; you do." Sophia sounded offended. Did he sound rude and demanding? He wouldn't know. _It's not like I actually talk to other people, _he thought bitterly_. They think I'm too freakish. They don't have manners either. She's being nice to me, so it wouldn't do to offend her._

"Sorry," Tom replied politely. "I was just really curious that you ended up here and I didn't even notice. And I beg to differ about the fact that I have a 'weird accent'."

"It's okay," Sophia said cheerfully. She then became a little bit serious. Tom wasn't surprised. She seems lost, he thought."Honestly, I don't know how I ended up here. I fell asleep in my own bed last night at home, and this morning, I woke up to find myself in one of the rooms with three other girls. I want to go home, because I'm pretty sure that I'm not an orphan, but I don't know where home is. Oh no! What if I really am... No! But that still wouldn't explain how I ended up here. I don't even know this place. I've never seen it in my city." _What? How could that happen? She must be joking. It's the only logical explanation. But I doubt that she would joke about losing her family, and she really seems to miss them. She's confused. Yes, that's it. _

"Where are you from?" Tom asked.

"Mayfield," Sophia replied. It sounded so... strange in a common way. It didn't sound horribly foreign like cities from other countries did.

"Where's Mayfield? I've never heard of it."

"It's a city in Ohio," Sophia said. Okay, he knew the states of surrounding countries a bit better, and he knew that there wasn't a place called Ohio in Britain, and once again, it didn't sound foreign like French, Spanish, or German cities might.

"Ohio?" Tom asked. He saw a look of disbelief cross her face, as if she couldn't believe that he wouldn't know where Ohio was.

"Hah! You're kidding! Okay, I'll go along with it. It's a state in the United States of America! And most normal people in the United States have accents like mine, so there!" _She was from the United States? How did she end up here? Surely, she would've remembered if she and family had come to Britain for vacation, wouldn't she?_

"What?" Tom practically yelled."Well, that explains your accent."

"My accent? You guys are the ones with strange accents! You guys sound like those prim, proper, uptight British!" _Was this girl so foolish? Did she not realize that she was in Britain? Though I'm sure that she couldn't imagine that she randomly ended up across the Atlantic Ocean, so I shouldn't be hard on her. I'd think that I was crazy if I were in her place, so I can understand how she feels_, Tom thought.

"You are in Britain! And get your science stuff out, science is about to start. Though this class is a bit of a joke. All of them are."

"You're joking!" Sophia whispered.

"I know how hard it is for you to believe this, but you must. Ask the teacher if you don't believe me."

Sophia asked the teacher, who was the same as the math teacher, and would be the same for all other subjects, what country was next to us.

"But surely you must know that Great Britain is an island! Or are you not smart enough to know that?" he sneered. Tom saw Sophia's eyes widen in shock, but she tried to hide it. The teacher didn't notice anything strange, though, and continued on with all of the lessons and classes for the day. When they were done, Sophia went up to Tom.

"How could this have happened? It's impossible! Not unless my parents flew to Britain and left me at a random orphanage, but I don't see why they would! I don't think we have money problems, and we were going to Nepal this winter, and my parents bought my ticket too and everything! I saw the ticket with my name on it! They wouldn't have done that if they planned on abandoning me?"

"Well, I'm sorry, I can't say," Tom said. "You seem to have appeared out of nowhere, and you'll have to get used to living here. Maybe you might end up back home the same way; you might fall asleep and wake up at home." Could it have been magic? _Nah_, Tom decided. _And besides, why would she of all people end up here?_ She didn't seem to deserve such punishment. Not like he did, either. He was too special to be doomed to a place like this, but he was born here. She didn't deserve to be unceremoniously plucked from her happy life and dropped into this snake pit. "It's time for lunch, so I suppose you'll want to talk to some of the other kids, try to make friends?" For some reason, Tom hoped that she wouldn't. She was the closest thing to an intelligent person, and while he was yet to see if she was like other girls, he wanted to at least get to know her. It was possible that she was different. Before she could reply, though, they were shoved hard to the ground.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," two greasy, grimy, older-looking kids replied. Tom knew them. They were Billy and his friend Adam. They were two bullies who just loved troubling Tom, pushing him around and beating him up. While they were the same age as him, they were bigger in size, and two against one were never good odds for the one. Tom looked to his left and saw Sophia's eyes widen.

"Why did you push us? We didn't do anything to you! If you push others around, that must mean that you want to be pushed around. That must be the way you want to be treated!" Billy leaned in and punched Sophia in the nose hard. Blood started spurting out. Sophia tried to hold back a yelp but failed.

"OWW!" She yelled. Tom was angry. Not only did they bully him around, they've started bullying Sophia around? _So now anyone who wants to be around me has to suffer at the bullies' hands?_ He admired Sophia's courage, but supposed that she had never come across bullies. No one who knew what the bullies could do ever stood up to them. He didn't get much time to think of all of this, though, when Adam started punching Tom while Billy was beating up Sophia.

"We is your betters, little girl. It would do you good to respect us. And you shouldn't hang out with the little freak over there." Billy indicated with his head toward Tom. "If you know what's good for you."

"Why do you care so much? It shouldn't matter to you who I hang out with. You don't even know me. You're such losers, both of you, that you have no meaning and use for your life. You are so useless that you waste time bothering us, even though we did nothing." Tom realized by the huge breath Billy took that Sophia had just provoked him by responding. He tried to look at her and caught a glimpse of Sophia trying to claw Billy with her fingernails. "Let go!" she screamed, and Tom could hear the pain saturated in each word.

"What you lookin at boy?" Adam asked. Adam looked over there for a second and Tom used the distraction to bite on Adam's hand. Hard. Adam yelped, and Tom got up. He saw Billy beating up Sophia ferociously. He was suddenly overcome with anger. These bullies were picking on him for no reason, and he couldn't fight back, which was enough. To top things off, they were picking on Sophia. She didn't know how to handle it. She'd never had to suffer like this, and now was suffering for being kind to him. He wasn't the devil here, they were.

"They'll pay," Tom hissed. He glared at Adam and Billy, and just when he was about to try to attack them with his hands, there was a huge boom. Billy and Adam flew back in the air and landed very hard on their backs.

"Billy, let's get away from them. They're not worth the trouble, and who knows what else the little freak can do!" Adam yelled, scared. Billy nodded, and they ran off. Tom stood there in wonder. A voice broke him from his trance.

"Tom? What did you just do?"

Meanwhile, somewhere that no one knows about, Fate sat there, writing in his book. He noticed how Tom saved himself and Sophia from the bullies. "I knew that de-aging Sophia to 6-years-old, wiping her memories of her life beyond 6, sending her back in time, and putting her in Tom Marvolo Riddle's orphanage was a good idea. They'll become friends now. And if things work out the way I want them to, then Tom Riddle will make a better soul mate for Sophia than one she could've gotten in her time."


	5. Sacrifice

**A.N. A very special thank you to E-man-dy-S for being the first reviewer. I'm glad that you are enjoying my rewrite. Since you are an anonymous reader, I hope you are still reading this story and watching for updates :) **

**As for the rest of you (I know I have viewers on this story), I would greatly love reviews! Please? My original story, A Twist in Time, is still getting many views, but I am very curious about what you think of this one, especially if you're reading this story for the first time. Constructive criticism is accepted, but I would like to know what I can do better. Reviews make me happy, and that'll get me to update more quickly :)**

When Billy was attacking Sophia, it was hard for her to fight back. This was the first time someone was bullying her, and she was doing her best to attack back. She tried clawing Billy since her nails were reasonably sharp, but her nails barely made a scratch in Billy's skin, and he was punching Sophia with all of his might. She was wondering how Tom was doing. _Does he have to deal with this stuff a lot? Poor Tom_, Sophia thought sympathetically. Then, she heard a yelp, and the other bully jumped off of Tom, clasping his hand. She saw Tom glance in her direction, and then he glared at the bullies. _If looks could kill, they'd be dead_, Sophia thought. Then, both bullies were thrown back. They flew in the air and landed painfully on their backs. Sophia thought she heard something break. She looked over at Tom, but he was still in the same position. He didn't seem to have moved at all.

"Billy, let's get away from them. They're not worth the trouble, and who knows what else the little freak can do!" Adam yelled, scared. Billy nodded, and they ran off. Sophia was amazed. Tom had just saved himself and Sophia from the bullies without lifting a finger. _That was so cool! The bullies deserved it for picking on us for no reason! But how did Tom do that? I don't think I could._

"Tom? What did you just do?" Sophia asked in wonder. Tom, however, seemed to have mistaken her wonder for an accusation.

"I don't know. Honestly. I was mad at the bullies for picking on us, and I wanted them to stop. Then, they just flew back. I've never done anything like this before!"

"Tom, I'm amazed. That was wonderful! That will teach them not to pick on us! Is this seriously your first time doing something like this?" Sophia asked.

"Yes, I just said so," Tom said, somewhat annoyed.

"That was like magic," Sophia said. "And because we don't know what happened, let's just call it magic."

"Wow! I can do magic," Tom said. They walked back to their rooms, their scant amount of watery soup spilled by the bullies. They had finished the few spoons of soup left in seconds. Sophia's stomach rumbled. Tom might've been used to such meager meals, but Sophia wasn't. She was used to three big meals and an afternoon snack with milk. _Living here is harder than I thought. I'm practically starving_. Then she felt guilty with the thought that the kids here ate every day like this, and that they, and not her, knew the real meaning of the word "starving".

"Looks like someone is hungry," Tom said lightly.

"I'm not used to food like this," Sophia said. She hated it. "My mother told me not to be a picky eater, but I never thought that I'd have to get rid of my habits like this," Sophia said. "I feel so sorry for all the kids here. I miss my mother's cooking"

"I've never had my mother's food," Tom said quietly.

"I'm so sorry Tom. How could I be so... so...mean about this? I shouldn't complain."

"It's okay, Sophia," Tom replied. "It's hard at first. But if you ignore your hunger for a while, it'll go away." As they were walking, though, they were stopped by a shrill voice.

"TOM! SOPHIA!" yelled Mrs. Cole as she caught up to them. Tom and Sophia turned around. Tom had an impassive look on his face, looking almost bored, while Sophia looked scared. She couldn't help but marvel at Tom's nonchalance. _Did he always get yelled at? Was he simply used to this by now, after six years of this? _

"What did we do, ma'am?" Sophia asked, fear tinging her voice.

"Billy and Adam told me that Tom knocked them over. They said that you did something strange. They were talking to you, and you sent them flying in the air and then made them fall just by looking at them. Is that true Tom? Did you do that Tom? They have broken bones. Did you bully them?" Sophia could see Tom trying to control his anger.

"Mrs. Cole, they were bullying us," Tom gritted. "Sophia and I were walking to lunch, and Billy and Adam knocked us over. They started pushing us around, and-"

"Nonsense! Why would they bully you for no reason?" Mrs. Cole asked incredulously.

"Beats me, why would you think that we would attack them without reason?" Tom bit back.

"Don't give me any of your cheek, boy! You attacked them, didn't you! No dinner and breakfast for you!" Sophia couldn't believe it. This was unfair. Mrs. Cole didn't even listen to them. Now Tom was suffering because of her. Yes, he also saved himself, but he saved her too. Adam had let go of Tom when he bit him. Tom could've run then, but he did save her as well, no matter what his motives were. Sophia couldn't let him suffer like this. She knew what she'd do.

"Ma'am, don't yell at Tom. It was my fault. Tom is right, they were picking on us. I wanted to be friends with them, since I was new-" Sophia threw that in there to, hopefully, gain some pity from Mrs. Cole and make the story more believable. "-but they started being mean to me and Tom. I got mad and attacked them. I pushed them to the ground. They probably just exaggerated and said that they were thrown to the ground because they were probably mad at being beat by a girl," Sophia finished.

"Be that as it may, you should have come to an adult if something like that happened. Tom, I'm sorry. It seems as if your little friend is at fault. No dinner and breakfast for you, little girl!" Mrs. Cole said, and walked off to tell the cooks that. Tom looked at her in wonder.

"Why did you just do that? I'm used to little meals, and I've had my meals taken away many times, but it'll be hard for you. Weren't you just saying before how hungry you were?"

"I couldn't let you take the blame, Tom. You saved me from the bullies," Sophia replied quietly.

"But I also saved myself. I wanted to save you too, but it was more out of my immediate anger at the bullies." Sophia was a little disappointed at hearing that. _It makes sense, though. Before this, if Tom was bullied by a bully, I wouldn't have tried to step in, so why should he do that for me?_ She felt bad again thinking that she wouldn't have tried to help Tom if he was being bullied. It made her feel weak. There was too much guilt in such a short amount of time for her to deal with, and it was all because she was here at this orphanage. It had shown her a new view of things. The only potential silver lining she saw now was her possible friendship with Tom because of this. Perhaps there were some other, nicer kids, maybe the girls, but he seemed smart, and Sophia thought that Tom could make a good friend. It was all she currently had, anyhow.

"It doesn't matter. You still saved me, and I didn't want you to be punished for that. Then you wouldn't ever save me again," Sophia joked. "I owed you that." Sophia held out her hand again, as she had when first introducing herself, and continued. "Can we be friends? From what I've seen in our classes today, you're smart. I might learn a thing or two from you, and you'll be better company than the girls in my room, since I can have an smart conversation with you. Also, it'll keep my mind off the hunger. And I'll be a good friend." Sophia looked at Tom eagerly. Tom considered this.

"Alright," he replied, not too grudgingly, and shook her outstretched hand. "Friends." Sophia thought she might even have seen a ghost of a smile at the words. She was thrilled.


	6. A New Beginning

Tom and Sophia were hanging out in his room, which was currently empty. Tom still couldn't believe that Sophia lied straight to Mrs. Cole's face and took the blame on herself. He had seen people lie to get themselves out of trouble, but this was the first time that he was seeing someone lie to get a friend out of trouble. _So I'm her friend? I guess. I mean, there are some things that you just can't share without ending up liking each other, and I guess this was one of them. We helped each other too, so I guess it makes sense. Hmmm. Sophia is my friend_. As much as he hated to admit it, he liked the sound of 'friend'. He noticed that Sophia's face had fallen when she realised that she'd have to skip two meals, but then she tried to hide it from him. He shook himself out of his thoughts, and decided to satisfy his curiosity about her life before she unceremoniously landed here.

"What was your life like before you came here?" Tom asked.

"I was born in India and lived there for three-and-a-half years," Sophia started. Before she could continue, Tom interrupted.

"Do you remember what it was like there?" he asked. Wow, a different country? On the East side of the world? Wow!

"No, not really," Sophia replied. "I do remember going to school there. But I have seen pictures of me when I was a baby. If I do say so myself, I was pretty cute as a baby." Tom could easily picture her as a bright, bouncy baby. _Sophia just has so much energy, I'm sure she was even more like that as a baby._

"I'm sure you were." Tom replied. He realized right away that that sounded strange.

"Huh?" Sophia asked.

"I'm sure you were bouncy and energetic, I meant." He said quickly. While he did admit that babies were cute, their constant crying evened it out, and he hated hearing the babies crying. Especially since it was so hard for a person to figure out what was wrong.

"Yeah, that's true. I read my dad's journal where he wrote about me as a baby. I have to say, I had to laugh at some of the silly things that I did."

"And what was school like?" Tom asked. He wanted to see what a normal life was like. At least, what a normal life where Sophia lived was like.

"Well, I came...er...went to the U.S. when I was about three-and-a-half years old. I went to preschool when I was four. It seemed like a lot of free time and play time. I painted pictures and played dress-up. We had a lot of circle time. I don't remember actually learning anything. At the library though, they had these headphones so you could listen along to books. The words were highlighted as the reader read along. I taught myself how to read, and I'm pretty proud of that. Dad said that they also helped me learn to read, but I don't remember my parents teaching me anything much besides math. Dad really liked teaching me math. He said that it was the most useful thing. I'm glad that I taught myself to read, because I think that that's more important." Tom agreed.

"Well, you're right about you couldn't read, you really wouldn't be able to apply math to real life like in word problems." Tom said.

"Exactly! Then, let's see, kindergarten seemed to be the same, but we learned about spelling simple words like 'got'. Dad taught me multiplication, and he made me memorize my times tables up to 12 x 10. First grade was different. We actually learned science and social studies. We learned about life cycles of butterflies, and even had butterflies in our classroom. The classes aren't really challenging, but school is fun because the kids are fun. I mean, I just couldn't imagine being home-schooled. In first grade, Dad taught me basic division facts, long division, and multiple-digit multiplication. I wonder what second grade would've been like." _Wow, Sophia can talk_,Tom thought. _Well, Sophia is almost as smart as I am, Of course, I learned everything by myself, so that's more impressive, and I'm proud of it, but she seems to like a challenge. She sounded like she thought that unchallenging classes was a bad thing, so maybe she'd become an independent learner_. But Tom was curious about one more thing.

"Do you like dolls, princesses, you know, stuff like that?" Tom asked tentatively.

"Oh yes, I like braiding dolls' hair, dressing them up in different outfits, and other stuff like that. I also like the Disney Princesses. They're American characters." Sophia must've caught the look on Tom face though, because she added quickly "oh, but don't worry. I won't talk about that with you. I realize that boys don't like dolls and princesses, so don't worry. Also, I don't like playing with them all day. Plus, I doubt that this place has decent dolls. I mean," Sophia quickly corrected when she realized that she had sounded rude, "that my favorite dolls are probably different from British dolls, so yeah." Sophia said. So she was girly, but she was still capable of intelligent conversation. _That's good_, Tom thought. Having Sophia around would be an interesting change. A teacher came into their room and told them that they were allowed to go outside for an hour.

"Let's go outside, Tom," Sophia said. "I'd like some fresh air." Tom, however, thought otherwise.

"Are you sure that that's a good idea? I mean, the bullies might be there, and no sense in practically seeking them out," Tom said, remembering painful encounters with bullies, most of them outside where adults kept even less of a watch than they usually did. Sophia noticed Tom lightly fingering his bruises.

"Well, we can sneak out of your window. I don't think there's anyone in the place outside of your window." She looked out of Tom's window. "Yep, I was right." So Tom snuck out of his window with Sophia. However, as Sophia climbed out, she stepped on a snake.

"Ahh!" Sophia yelled, when she realized that she had stepped on a snake. The snake, looking at her angrily, hissed. Tom knew that Sophia had stepped on it on accident.

"Don't hurt her," Tom said.

The snake turned its head to Tom. "**She stepped on me**," it said.

"**I know, but it was an accident. She didn't mean to**." The snake looked shocked. Well, as shocked as a snake could look.

"**You can understand me?**" the snake asked.

"**Yes, why?**" Tom asked. His question was answered.

"Tom, you can talk to snakes?" Sophia asked, stunned. What? What was going on?


	7. Sweetening Friendship

To say that Sophia was surprised when Tom started hissing at the snake she had just stepped on was an understatement. She was even more surprised when the snake started hissing back. It sounded like they were having a conversation. What was going on? First the incident in the cafeteria, then this? She felt increasingly... ordinary, boring. She saw a confused look on Tom's face.

"Tom, you can talk to snakes?" she asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I was talking in English, and the snake seemed to understand me. Didn't you hear me?" Tom looked confused.

"No Tom, you weren't talking in English. You were hissing. That's what I heard from you. Hissing. What were you saying?" Sophia asked.

"I was telling it not to hurt you, but I'm surprised. I didn't realize that I was hissing. It still sounded like English to me." Tom said. He turned to the snake, hissed some more, and Sophia saw the snake bow its head a little before it slithered off.

"Anyway, we might as well go back in." Tom said. They both snuck back into Tom's window. It was dinnertime. Sophia's stomach rumbled painfully.

"Get in line for the food anyway," Tom said. "Maybe no one will notice." But as they got in line, Sophia saw Mrs. Cole.

"No dinner and breakfast for you!" Mrs. Cole yelled loudly, catching the attention of a lot of kids. Sophia heard a lot of snickering. Her eyes nearly welled up with tears, but she tried to hold them back. No one would care about her feelings here like people did back home. At home, if she was upset, people besides her parents usually apologized. She quickly left, telling Tom, "I'll save you a seat," before sitting down at a table. She pretended to scratch her eyes. Tom sat down beside her.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm not," Sophia replied.

"Yeah right," Tom scoffed. "You're really obvious, you know."

"Well, I'm sorry!" Sophia snapped. "I miss home. At home, the kids at school actually cared about my feelings. If people offended me, I'd tell them, and they'd apologize. I highly doubt that anyone would do that here."

"Well, that's what people are like here. I don't know what your home would feel like because I grew up here, and this is normal life for me. And I wouldn't be mean to you unless you were mean to me." Tom added. "But if you at least pretend like it doesn't bother you, you will look invincible, and while people won't admit it, they'll admire that.

"I'm sorry that you had to grow up here for all of your childhood Tom, and you're right. I guess I just need to get used to this. It is my first day, and I guess I hate being laughed at and being odd and lonely. But you're right. Crying has no place here. And why do I need these people. They're stupid, so I don't." Sophia's stomach rumbled again.

"Here." Tom said. He scooped some of the vegetables out of his soup. "Hold out your hand."

"Tom, I couldn't. The vegetables are the only filling part of your soup. And besides, I don't like the veggies." Her stomach rumbled again though, as if protesting. Tom grinned.

"Seems like your stomach says otherwise. And don't worry about me."

"Alright. I'll have one vegetable." Tom rolled his eyes, but dropped one vegetable in her hand. She ate it, gulping it down with a grimace on her face. When Tom was done with his soup, they walked back to Tom's room.

"Ok, let's read now," Tom said. Sophia didn't mind. She knew that it was the only other interesting thing besides talking to Tom, because she had seen the toys, and she didn't like them. _I sound so spoiled_, Sophia thought. _But maybe being spoiled is a good thing. After all, I do want to study more because it seems more entertaining, and studying is a good thing_. Tom showed Sophia some of his books. It was a science book, of about a third-grade level.

"I've already read it, but since your dad stressed math, I reckon that you might learn something from the book." Tom and Sophia studied in silence. Sophia liked it. When the other boys started coming into Tom's room, Sophia left, giving Tom's books back to him.

"Thanks," Sophia said. Then, she left.

Back in Sophia's room, the girls started teasing her.

"So, you were hanging out with the freak boy who always reads?" they taunted. Sophia ignored them. "But then again, you're a know-it-all too, so it makes sense. 'Tom and Sophia sitting in a tree,'" they sang. "S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G". She was about to retort when she realized that she was in Britain, and maybe they said snogging instead of kissing. She turned around and lay on her side. She remembered how she had snuck out of Tom's window with him. _Hmmm_... Sophia thought. _I have a window in my room too. Maybe I could sneak out_. And then she thought of how Tom had shared his food with her when she didn't have any. _He's so kind, even though he has almost nothing. I should repay him_. Her stomach rumbled, and at that moment what she craved more than anything was chocolate. Sophia immediately thought of Tom, who'd grown up here, and felt sorry for him. _I bet he never tasted the magic of delicious, sweet chocolate. He deserves to, and there's no better way to repay him than to introduce him to chocolate. I wonder if I could somehow go out and earn some chocolate for him. Maybe I can help out in a store or something. I could get chocolate for Tom_. After a pause, she added, _and myself_. _I don't think I can survive without chocolate_. Sophia fell asleep while making plans on how to get chocolate the right way, without stealing.

The next day, after classes, lunch, and reading with Tom, the two went outside by sneaking out of the window. She didn't think it was necessary, but she had to admit that it was more fun sneaking out. She told Tom part of her plan. She didn't tell him that she wanted to get chocolate, or that she'd get some for him too. She wanted to surprise him.

"It won't work," Tom stated simply.

"I think it will. But I just need a little favor from you. The matrons can't find out, so I'll sneak back in through the window. Will you open the window when I knock on your window?"

"Sure. But why would you go through all of this trouble for a couple of pence?"

"Because I can save up and buy things with the money."

"Alright. I won't take too long at dinner in case you get back then."

"Thanks, Tom," Sophia said. She ran to town, and went into the first store she saw, which happened to be a bookstore.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Yes miss, how may I help you?" the manager asked.

"Would you be hiring help? I'd like to help out."

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Six, sir," Sophia replied. He shook his head, but Sophia widened her eyes as she looked at him with sadness welling in her eyes.

"Please, sir. I live in an orphanage. We barely get any food, and I really want some chocolate. I'll do my best to help out, I promise!"

"Alright, how's this - I'll give you six pieces of chocolate an hour. I have some chocolate that someone gave me as a gift, but I think I should stay away from chocolate." The man laughed. "And since you are so young, I won't make you do anything that requires a lot of work. Just some light help. Besides, I'm sure that you will like it here. It'll be a nice break from the orphanage, I'm sure," he said, looking at her sympathetically. "I wish I could help you more, I really do, but I don't have much myself."

"Thank you, sir. I'll try to help out an hour each day." Sophia was thrilled. Six pieces of candy? That was more than she had expected. That would be three pieces for her and three pieces for Tom. He'd be surprised.

After an hour of stacking books, the manager gave her six wrapped pieces of chocolate. Ecstatic, Sophia ran back to the orphanage. She knocked at Tom's window. Thankfully, Tom was in his room. He opened the window, and Sophia climbed back in.

"Tom! Look what I brought for you. Chocolate!" Sophia gave him three pieces of chocolate. She was happy to see his jaw dropped in an 'o' of surprise, his eyes sparkling with delight.


	8. Back in Time?

_What? _Tom thought. _Sophia brought chocolate for me?_ Tom saw Sophia take out one piece of chocolate and eat it. She put the rest in her pocket. She had given him three pieces of chocolate. She had given him half of her chocolate. Tom saw how much Sophia loved chocolate by the way she was slowly savoring the creamy confection, and realized that she must consider him important for her to give him chocolate.

"I'll try to save the rest for after dinner and lunch tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to control myself." Sophia said. Tom unwrapped all of his chocolate and ate them in three bites.

"I've never had chocolate. I've just heard of how good it is." He chewed. "And it's amazing! Thank you Sophia. I'm glad that you decided to share your chocolate with me. But why? I mean, you've probably realized that chocolate here is a rare luxury, like gold."

"You're my friend, Tom. My only friend here. I want to share what little I have with you," Sophia replied simply. _Wow_, Tom thought in wonder. _She makes me feel like I'm special. I mean, I know that I'm smart and special, that's obvious, but she's so nice, and she shows that I'm not the only one who values myself. I guess that having company is...feels... nice. I can't get too used to it though. To her. What if she leaves me? I mean, my mom died and left me alone in the world, my dad isn't in my life, the people who're supposed to take care of me treat me like I'm worthless, and the kids hate me. Maybe I shouldn't get close to her._ Tom snapped out of his thoughts at Sophia's voice.

"Earth to Tom!" Sophia said loudly, waving her hand in front of Tom's face. _She uses the oddest expressions_, Tom thought, and nearly laughed.

"Sorry, were you saying something?" Tom asked.

"I was saying that I miss watching Hindi movies with my parents." What? Sophia had told Tom that Hindi was a language. For movies to be in a language, they'd have to have sound. She had watched television with sound?

"You watched movies? You had a television? Movies had sound?" Tom asked. Sophia looked surprised.

"Of course movies had sound. Of course I had a television. Most people have one, at least in America. What kind of a question is that?" She looked at Tom with an expression of disbelief.

"Sophia, televisions aren't commercially available yet."

"Well, maybe they are in America." Sophia replied.

"No they aren't. I've read about televisions. Here, I'll prove it." Tom went and got out a book. He opened it up and pointed to one of the sentences.

"Here. It says 'televisions are yet to be commercially produced in the world...'. Commercially means 'for public users,' Tom added after seeing Sophia's blank expression. _She really needs to expand her vocabulary_, he thought. However, she ignored that, and he figured that she was in fact thinking about something. Then she shook her head slightly, as if dismissing it.

"What are you thinking about?" Tom asked.

"I'm just that easy to figure out, aren't I?" Sophia asked ruefully.

"Actually, yes," Tom replied.

"What's the date?" Sophia asked.

"August 26," Tom replied. "Why?"

"What year?" Sophia asked back.

"Oh, you're testing me. Of course I know what year it is. It's 1933." Tom saw Sophia's eyes open wide. Her mouth dropped in shock, and her life seemed to drain out of her. She looked like she could fall over with a poke.

"What? Are you that surprised that I know the year?" Tom joked, but he knew that it was something else. It couldn't be, could it?

"Tom stop joking! Seriously?"

"Sophia, I'm not lying. See, look at the calendar." Tom pointed to the calendar. Though dusty, it said "1933".

"But how's that possible? I was born in 1997!" What? Okay, now Sophia was the one who was joking.

"Haha Sophia, very funny. You can't time travel!"

"Tom, I know that this sounds ridiculous, but you must believe me." Tom saw Sophia rack her brain for something.

"Unfortunately, a major event that I remember is that World War 2 will start about 1939 or 1940. I don't remember exactly which, so you won't see proof for 6 years. But Tom, they will add color to movies sometime this decade."

"Okay," Tom said doubtfully. "But for now, let's forget about this." He wasn't sure that he believed her yet, but he figured that it would be impossible for her to prove herself right away even if she was being honest. But then again, he had done magic, and he could talk to snakes, so maybe she'd sent herself back in time. _But wouldn't she have remembered if she did?_ He decided not to give it more thought.

"Since we're on the subject, we might as well research televisions." They had been studying together for the past couple of days. It was their routine, even though neither of them had formally established it. After all, Tom had most of the good books, so Sophia read Tom's books. Later that night, Tom started pondering the day's strange turn of events until he fell asleep.


	9. Holiday Season

Life had become routine for Sophia. Breakfast, classes, lunch, talking to Tom, studying with Tom, going outside and working at the bookstore for an hour, sneaking back through Tom's window and sharing half of her chocolate with him, dinner, spending more time with Tom, and then going to sleep. She seemed to learn more with Tom than she would with her parents and teachers back home. She supposed that that was because Tom was the first really smart kid she had met, so she kind of wanted to be as smart as he was. She realized that she was competitive, doing her best to beat him, even though she couldn't. Also, she had lots of time on her hands, and the orphanage was pretty boring, so it was easier to learn a lot from the books. The books were the only good things about the orphanage. She and Tom had gotten to be great friends, in part because they bonded over learning, and simply because conversation came naturally to her when she talked to Tom. She was happy. She had a lot of friends back home, but here she finally had a smart friend who was her equal, who understood her. Of course, Tom and Sophia had arguments. Like:

"Tom, did you know that there are three types of rocks? Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic! And did you know that they can turn into each other. How does that happen? I mean, pressing on a rock changes it into another rock? That sounds impossible, and -"

"Sophia, can't you ever just shut up? Do you always have to talk? You can be so annoying, you know? And you're really loud! Just learn to be quiet for once!" Sophia reeled back in shock, and then left. For the next couple of days, they didn't talk to each other. _Is what Tom said true? Am I loud and obnoxious? Maybe he has a point. But he could have said it in a nicer way. And besides, that's just me. But maybe I shouldn't always voice my thoughts_. Sophia sighed ruefully. She sat there, absorbed in her own thoughts. That's when she noticed something. She remembered her classes in first grade back in America. She had memories of classes that she had never had. She had a memory of a math test in that classroom that she had never taken. She had a memory of nearly getting a detention for talking to one of her classmates when she had never done that. _What's happening to me? I'm probably just making stuff up. But it feels like part of my mind is sitting through class at my old school. Surely my mind wouldn't make up every boring detail of every minute of class. My mind kind of feels like it's sitting there and here, but my body's not. Why? What's going on?_ She got up to talk to Tom, but remembered their fight. _He won't want to talk to me now. And I'm not desperate to talk to him. He was mean, and he'll apologize_. At dinner, Sophia caught Tom's eye, but they didn't talk to each other. This continued for five days. In the meanwhile, Sophia started noticing more of her "memories" in America. Hanging out with Tom must've made me oblivious to... to this, but now that I'm alone, I've noticed it more. Finally, one day at dinner, Sophia couldn't take it anymore. She wasn't good at being mad at people. She walked toward Tom, who seemed to be surprised to see Sophia.

"Look Tom, I -" Tom interrupted her though.

"I'm sorry, Sophia. I'll be honest, I did mean it at the time, but these past couple of days, I've realized that, all in all, I like your talkativeness. It's you, and that makes you interesting. I was just annoyed that way, and when people annoy me, it's usually on purpose, so I lash out like that. I realized that you were just being you. I was just in the mood for a little bit of quiet at the time. But -" Tom broke off. He seemed nervous. _I guess he's never apologized to anyone before, but they don't care about him, so it makes sense_. He continued.

"- are you mad at me?"

"No Tom, I'm not. You kind of have a point, and friends don't get mad at friends for something like this. And you're my best friend here, maybe ever, so it's okay." Sophia had a memory of getting the math test back at her old school and getting a 100%. "Tom, I have to tell you something. You may not believe it, but it's as real as your... talent," Sophia finished. She told Tom everything she had noticed.

"You could be making these 'memories' up," Tom replied.

"But I wouldn't make up living through every single minute of my classes at one o'clock each day, you know." Sophia saw Tom thinking.

"Well, something strange had definitely happened to you. You came here with no memory of what happened to you, you may be from the future -"

"I AM from the future!" Sophia exclaimed.

"That's yet to be proven. And you seem to have memories of being at your old home. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were existing in two places at once as a 6-year-old. How that would happen I don't know, but that seems like something."

"Oh Tom!" Sophia burst, suddenly remembering something. "Here's five days worth of chocolate. I...well... kind of missed you, and saved your half of the chocolate for when we would be friends again." Tom was delighted, which made Sophia happy that she managed to control herself with great difficulty. She had unwrapped the chocolate so many times, almost eating it since she saw no reason to save chocolate for someone who had been so rude to her, but something had stopped her.

"Thank you." Tom replied.

In December, Sophia told the bookstore manager that instead of chocolate for two weeks, she'd like a book.

"It's for a birthday present for my friend, sir," Sophia said. The bookstore manager looked at her, and out of the holiday spirit, agreed. She told Tom that she couldn't control herself anymore and ate all of her chocolate. She saw a little disappointment in his eyes, but she knew it would disappear when he saw his book. She asked him what is one book he'd have if he could have any book in the world.

"I think I'd like an encyclopedia," Tom replied. Sophia realized that she'd have to rebargain with the storekeeper.

"If I work a month, can you give me an A - Z encyclopedia?" The manager thought long and hard about this, but decided that the little girl deserved this much.

"Alright, I'll give you an encyclopedia of one letter each day. If you get sick, make up the days in January. But if you don't, I'll take the encyclopedias back." Realizing how harsh it sounded, he amended. "I'm sorry, that came out badly. But it's just that the encyclopedias are expensive, but I see how little you have and how much this gift must mean to you. I'm trying to help you, really I am."

"That's okay mister. I understand," Sophia replied. So each day, she lugged home one book each day and crept through her own window instead of Tom's. Thankfully, even though her clothes weren't warm, she didn't catch more than a cold and cough. On December 31st, she crept into Tom's room and approached his bed, where Tom was sleeping peacefully.

"Wake up Tom! I have a surprise for you. And happy birthday, by the way," Sophia whispered.

"You're lying." Tom mumbled in his sleep. "I can't have a birthday surprise. I never get presents." Sophia felt sorry for Tom. She had always gotten presents. Last year, she had gotten a brand-new bicycle! She shook Tom until he woke up.

"Sophia! What are you doing here?" Tom asked in sleepy wonder.

"Come with me! Happy birthday, and I've got you a surprise." They crept together back to Sophia's room. She took out the encyclopedias from her temporary hiding place, which was under her bed, stacked them up, and pushed the stack toward Tom.

"Happy birthday, Tom." Sophia said, and smirked when she saw Tom's mouth open in wonder. "That's why I hadn't been bringing chocolate home for the past month. It wasn't because I was selfish." Then, she whisper-sang 'Happy Birthday'. "But hide them among your old books. I'll hide some with me. But don't worry, they're still yours. And sorry I couldn't get you a Christmas gift," Sophia said sadly, but Tom seemed too delighted with his present to care. This was the best present he'd ever had! Of course, it was the only present he ever had, but it was still the best he could imagine. The look on his face was priceless, and made the whole thing worth it. That night, Sophia suggested that they both sneak out of their rooms, go to their classroom since it had a clock, and countdown till the New Year.

"Why would you do that?" Tom asked.

"It's fun. Well, I think it's fun. You might think it's pointless, but it kind of feels cool to be awake when the new year officially starts. In America, we'd watch the ball drop in New York City on T.V. 'The ball' looks like a huge disco ball, and it starts dropping 15 min. before the New Year. It's part of the countdown. We can't do that here, but we can count down." Tom reluctantly agreed. When everyone seemed to be asleep, Sophia snuck out and went to their classroom. Tom joined her about 10 min. later.

"I just realized something. You can read a clock, can't you?" Tom asked.

"I can understand what an analog clock says, yes, but it's been harder to see out of my glasses lately, so I can't really read it well right now. Is it 12:00 already?" Sophia asked.

"No, it's 11:55."

"Did you enjoy your encyclopedias?" Sophia asked.

"Yes, I did. It...they...whatever... was the best present ever."

"I'm glad."

"It's 11:59, you know."

"Why didn't you tell me before? 60... 59... 58... come on Tom, count down with me. This is the fun part. We'll be awake and conscious during the first second of the new year." They counted down in quiet voices. "3...2...1...Happy New Year Tom!" Sophia whispered which as much intensity as she could. "I've lived the first second of 1934 consciously. It's 1934, and you're 7 years old Tom." She saw Tom smile.


	10. Satisfying Revenge

Tom smiled. While he didn't really enjoy the countdown to the New Year - he didn't see what was so great about it, since they would've woken up eight hours later and experienced the New Year then - he liked sneaking out. It made him feel...brave. He could do this without getting caught. There was something mysteriously enjoyable about sneaking out at night. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he enjoyed it. He enjoyed the rebellious feeling. He recounted today's events. He was quite surprised when Sophia showed him the encyclopedias. _Well, 'surprised' is quite an understatement_, Tom thought. Tom remembered telling Sophia about how he'd like an encyclopedia, and he also remembered how Sophia had told him that she kept "eating all of her chocolate", but he never thought to connect the two. _It would've seemed ridiculous_, he realized. He wouldn't have believed that someone would do that for him. _It would've been presumptuous, in a way, to connect the two_. _I can only imagine how much chocolate she must've given up just to get me a present and make my birthday special. I guess she really does care about me,_ Tom thought, smiling at the word 'care'._  
_

Several months passed, and then, it was March 17, Sophia's birthday. _Oh no! I didn't get her anything_. _She's probably missing her family, wishing she could do something fun on her birthday. I should try to give her something, since she gave me so much for my birthday. I should try to make her birthday special_. Tom knew that he, unlike her, didn't have the capability to buy Sophia anything, but he might be able to make something decent from the meager amount of resources that were available at the run-down orphanage. Tom looked through his encyclopedias, trying to find something. When he got to 'O', he found it. Origami. The encyclopedia had also given directions for an origami crane as an example. Tom found some relatively clean paper in one of the other students' rooms, and carefully folded the paper according to the instructions. When he was done, he created a card and wrote some words on it. The fact that his handwriting was unnaturally neat practically made it calligraphy, considering the fact that he was only seven. Later in the day, when he saw Sophia, he approached her.

"I know that it is nowhere as good as the presents you'd normally get, but, here," and Tom handed Sophia the card. He had written; "Happy birthday Sophia" on the cover in his nice, fancy handwriting. Sophia opened it eagerly. Inside, it said:"Sophia, I don't know how you ended up here, but I'm glad that you did. You're a good friend, a good person, and if anyone deserves a happy birthday, it's you. Happy Birthday!" The paper crane fell out.

"Tom, thank you. That was the most heartfelt present I've ever gotten from a friend. Of course, you're my best friend, but still." Tom blushed, unused to expressing his emotions and receiving thank-you's. He felt embarrassed at his face, which felt hot from the blood rushing to it. His normally porcelain skin now looked a shade of pink that would've looked lovely on a flower but that didn't look pleasing on Tom. But he was glad that Sophia appreciated what little he had given her. And Sophia seemed to smile a secret smile when she saw Tom's flushed face.

Time went on. Now, in addition to their books, Tom practiced magic while Sophia watched and helped however she could. Once, while they were practicing, Dennis and Amy had walked in. Dennis and Amy were two older children who bullied some of the younger children. So far, Tom and Sophia had, for the most part, managed to stay out of their way, but it didn't seem like they were going to be so lucky today. Dennis and Amy were shocked, but quickly got over it.

"What are you doing, you freaks? There's something wrong with you, little boy!" Then, they proceeded to try to punch Tom. They managed to get in one punch before Tom glared at them and managed to make them fall back as if they had been punched, as before. They left, saying "we'll get ya, ya little freak!" Though neither Tom nor Sophia had really been hurt, Tom was still angry at the two intruders, hot fire burning in his dark eyes, which made them glow dangerously.

"I'd love revenge," Tom glowered. Sophia looked at him, and he braced himself for a lecture from her. After all, she just didn't get what it was like, being suppressed, and he didn't want to be suppressed. She didn't have the thirst for revenge that he had, so she'd never fully understand him.

"I know Tom, so do I," Sophia replied, stunning Tom."But what do you plan on doing? I mean, they deserve revenge, but I believe that they only deserve to somehow have the tables turned on them. That's the best way of taking can do magic, Tom. We are capable of having the tables turned on them." Tom thought.

"But they're bullies! They bother me for no reason. I want them to feel intense pain. I want them to go crazy with the pain, the way I used to go crazy wondering what was wrong with me and why nobody liked me. Those thoughts burned in my mind for so long before I realized that I didn't need the approval of scum like them, before I realized that I didn't need anybody. But I want them to suffer the pain too. It's only fair, since they made me suffer."

"Oh, Tom, I'm sorry! I didn't realize that they affected you so much. But still, they should understand why they are wrong, and doing exactly what they do to us is the best way. I know my idea may sound stupid, but can we give it a try? If not, you're welcome to do whatever you'd planned." Sophia then told Tom her plan._ It is worth a try_, Tom supposed. Tom first tried their idea out on Sophia. After a couple of tries, where Tom tried not to crack up, it worked. Tom then changed Sophia back to normal. They'd try it tomorrow, they agreed.

The next day at lunch, the kids walked behind Dennis and Amy and then sat down at a lunch table in front of them. Tom and Sophia could still see Dennis and Amy's faces. Tom stared at them, and after two minutes, the transformation took place. Dennis's hair turned pink, and Amy's hair turned blue. On the front of both of their shirts, the words 'KICK ME' appeared. Everyone gasped, including Tom and Sophia so that they wouldn't look suspicious. Then, everyone started cracking up. The matrons ushered them out of the room and told them to go change. Tom and Sophia had already been there though, and all of their clothes said 'KICK ME'. Tom and Sophia couldn't stop laughing.

"Wow Sophia, that was funny! But what was the point of that?" Tom asked wonderingly.

"That was so that they would know what it was like to be laughed at for something that wasn't their fault. The next part of my plan is..." This part was harder, and took them two weeks of solid effort for Tom to manage. But it was worth it, and seemed more valuable, in Tom's opinion. When they were ready, Tom stared at the paper person that he and Sophia had built. Soon, it came to life. They made it walk until they found Dennis and Amy, and hid behind a door while the paper person walked up to them. Tom stared at the paper person and at Dennis. All of a sudden, Dennis staggered back, clutching his eye, while, at the same time, the paper person's fist had thrust forward. Amy charged toward the paper person, but before she could touch it, it punched her too. It started walking forward, punching Dennis and Amy, leading them into the cafeteria so that the whole orphanage saw what was happening. This time, no one bothered concealing their laughter. Then, the paper person instantly disintegrated. Later, Tom and Sophia approached a very humiliated Dennis and Amy.

"I'm sorry that you were humiliated like that when it was no fault of yours," Sophia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You must be upset for being attacked like that and having everyone laugh at you when you didn't do anything to the paper person. But let me tell you -" Sophia was practically hissing at this point. "- that God has seen how you treat other innocent children like Tom, who didn't do anything to you, and is now taking revenge. But if you promise that you won't do it again, and actually keep it, God might be pleased and may stop trying to humiliate you. Just a suggestion," Sophia grinned. A worn-out Dennis and Amy just nodded, not wanting to deal with anyone. Tom looked at Sophia, amazed.

"It's kind of funny," Sophia remarked. "Because I don't believe in God. But I figured that bringing the divine into the equation could explain this strangeness to them and scare them into behaving."

"Wow, you really know how to pack a mighty punishment," he said later, when they were back in Tom's room. "If I had carried out my punishment, I admit that they might've been scared of me without understanding that I wanted to hurt them because they humiliated me. You managed to make them feel how bullies' victims do, so that was a much better plan." And he was right. It was more satisfying, now that they knew what humiliation felt like. Sophia seemed proud of herself.

"Thank you, Tom, but you did most of it. I wish that I could do magic. But I'll never hate you for your abilities, Tom, don't worry." Tom was glad. Sophia accepted him for who he was, without resentment, without jealousy.

One day, however, something strange happened.


	11. More Magic

**A.N. Thank you to SWIwannabe and The PhantomismyLove for reviewing. I'm glad that you want to read more. To SWIwannabe, I will try to take your suggestion in some places, where I realize that I can cut out some of the thoughts, but others I think are necessary. But I appreciate your constructive criticism, I really do! It helped me see that there were indeed places where I could improve. To everyone, enjoy and please review! Reviews make me happy, and give me incentive to update faster :)**

Sophia enjoyed the pranks that she and Tom played on the bullies. She didn't think the bullies would be bothering anyone anytime soon. She did feel guilty with the realization that they had stooped to the level of the bullies, but she knew that that was only because the bullies had started it, and she and Tom wouldn't bother the bullies now that they had learned their lesson. _It was worth it_, she thought. _We only taught them a lesson, so that they wouldn't hurt us. Or others, for that matter. They bothered other kids and pushed them around too, but now they won't_. Sophia didn't realize that she was changing Tom, changing time. She didn't realize that she had prevented one of the steps that Tom would've taken on his way to becoming Voldemort if he had hurt Amy and Dennis until they went mad. She did understand his thirst for revenge, but she had managed to turn it into an effective way to get revenge and get the real message across - the fact that they felt hurt and humiliated by those kids' actions and that they didn't appreciate it.

Sophia and Tom weren't bothered by the other children anymore, but come August, Sophia had what she felt was a bigger problem to worry about. The 'other Sophia' in her other time, the one who was still growing up with her family, was moving. She was moving from Mayfield to Solon. The Sophia who was moving was excited about going to a new school, especially since she had heard that it was one of the best schools at the time, but the Sophia in the past knew better. When she had 'moved' to the orphanage, she had made an unknown social mistake and was now an outcast. Of course, she didn't regret it, but if Sophia made a mistake, her reputation might go down the drain, and she might be left without a friend. It was while thinking about this that she realized how much she relied on Tom for company. Sophia wasn't a loner, and knew it would be hard without friends. _Be careful_, Sophia thought to herself.

_Who are you?_ Sophia was startled to hear the voice in her head seem like her own yet feel like it came from outside. _I keep hearing your thoughts and memories, and I know that I've never been to Britain, even though that's where you seem to be_. Sophia realized that she could communicate with the future Sophia, and decided to reply.

_I'm you. It's hard to explain what happened, but I was sent back in time. Seeing how you're still in 2004, I must've been made younger when I was sent back in time. I just want to tell you that I've had the experience of moving, and you've got to be careful_.

_You don't have many friends, though, so what would you know?_ Future Sophia sneered. She didn't realize how biting she could sound, and was surprised that she was talking this way - to herself, no less!

_That's because I'd rather be friends with Tom than have many other friends here at the orphanage. My heart has also hardened a little bit when I realized that there are lots of people who are mean. You, though, haven't had many people be mean to you, so you'll just have to be careful. I mean, be yourself mostly, but try to assess the situation and then adapt. Don't do anything outright stupid, and don't show that you're smart right away, unless there are other smart but nice people. If you're in a class of popular people, it'll be best to only act a little smart, because popular people are anything but brainiacs. And don't tell anyone about me_.

_Um, okay? I'll see. And of course I won't tell them about you. I'm not crazy_. Then, the future Sophia stopped 'thinking toward' 1934 Sophia. Sophia was nervous for her future self. The first day of school came along. She saw herself see a group of girls talking. 'Hey! I'm Sophia. I'm new.' She saw the girls look at each other. 'Hey Sophia,' they said back, but they didn't invite her into their conversation. Sophia sat down by them and tried to talk to them. 'Do you think that the teacher will be mean?' The girls responded dully, but it was clear that they weren't going to be guys were just guys, and Sophia figured that they were mostly popular, too. There was one smart kid in their class, but he was just so annoying. He was like Tom in the sense that they were both smart and both preferred to be mostly alone instead of being around most other kids. But this boy, blond, tall, and a bit chubby, paraded around like a peacock, and Sophia hated him.

That school year started off badly. Despite the future Sophia's efforts to fit in, she didn't really make any good friends. Her future self missed her old friends so much that even Sophia found herself crying like she hadn't for years. She was so mad and sad that she looked up at the calendar, wishing that she could turn back the clock for her future self and that her future self could've stayed in Mayfield, or at least given her friends a better goodbye. All of a sudden, the calendar blew up. _Ohmigod! Did I just do magic?_ she asked herself in utter shock, unable to believe what had happened. _I'm just like Tom! I'm special and magical too!_ She ran to Tom's room to tell him the news.

"Tom! Tom! Guess what?" When she got to Tom's room, she was glad to find that Tom was alone in his room. "I can do magic!"

"What? How do you know?"

"I blew up the calendar." Sophia then proceeded to tell him what had happened, starting from her talking to her future self, to her crying over her future self's loss, and then ending with the calendar blowing up.

"You cried? Because your future self had to move away from her friends?" Tom sounded a bit condensing.

"Well, yeah. I feel sorry for her. She's not used to as much loneliness as I am, and she was so sad that it got to me, like a contagious disease."

"Well, you should tell her that you don't really need company, and that she should be able to do fine without it. You're smart, and you don't really need anyone. I like being your friend, but if you weren't, I wouldn't be devastated. I think that you're at least more like that, if not completely like that, and she should be like that too. After all, she must be like you, smart, creative, you know." Tom finished, stammering a bit at the end.

"You're right. I will tell her that. You have to admit, I might not have discovered my magic if I wasn't upset." Sophia was so satisfied. While she didn't let it get to her and come in between her and Tom's friendship, Sophia couldn't help but feel inferior every time Tom performed magic. She couldn't help but hate her normalcy, hate her inability to do such amazing things and wield such power. Now that she could though, she was excited and relieved, since now she felt that she was on more equal footing with Tom. Sophia and Tom practiced trying to do things with their magic along with their study sessions. In time, they could make pages of books turn on their own and summon newspapers. They realized that controlling their magic required extreme willpower, so they had to really want something to make it work. They had tried using magic to make each other origami presents, and their origami had turned out a bit better than usual.

"Look Tom," Sophia exclaimed as she magically managed to make her paper crane float and flap its wings. Tom smiled and attempted to do the same with his, managing to make it float higher.

"Ha," he replied. "Mine can float higher than yours."

"Hey, that's not fair! You've been able to do magic longer than I have, so you have more practice!" Sophia whined. Before long, their magic, just as their academics before, turned competitive. Sophia enjoyed the competition. _It makes me want to do my best, _she reflected.

Sophia had almost forgotten about her future self, until one day she felt her heart beat strangely faster. She then had a mental image of an unfamiliar pale boy with long dark hair, and Sophia innately understood that this boy was causing her heart to beat up. _What? I don't even know him_, she thought, bewildered. Her unspoken question was answered when she heard her future self's thoughts. _I really like him_, future-Sophia thought wistfully. From the moment she acknowledged this, Sophia's mind was bombarded with the boy. It was almost as if she herself had a crush on this boy! She tried not to let it affect her, but was failing miserably.

"Hey Tom, since you are done with that book about space, can I have it?" Sophia asked him. She had been going out of her way to distract her unfortunate linked mind by throwing herself more into books and talking to Tom. She looked at him, but she found that it wasn't helping. Instead of distracting her from the stranger boy, looking at Tom her stomach felt light, almost airy. _I guess this is the 'butterflies in the stomach' feeling_, Sophia figured. Her mind quickly reeled back at the realization. _What? Why? I'm not nervous, and I'm trying to forget the boy. It's working, too! I shouldn't be getting butterflies by looking at my friend!_ Tom, oblivious to her inner turmoil, handed her the book, and their fingers brushed, sending a tingle through her nerves and speeding up her heartbeat. Sophia was frozen still at the unexpected sensation.

She'd have to have a word with her future self again.


	12. Acceptance to Hogwarts!

Tom realized that there was something strange lately, but he couldn't put his finger on it. One day, he saw Sophia looking a little bit upset.

"Why are you upset? What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," Sophia said, but she didn't sound convincing. She sighed. "Apparently, my future self fancies this one boy in her class. He's the only one who lets her be herself, he's there for her, he understands her and her situation, .etc."

"So why are you upset?" Tom asked. _Why does her future self's actions affect Sophia? After all, the boy isn't here_.

"Because it's contagious. Because I am bombarded with her thoughts, now I have a crush on someone who I don't know, and I can't stop thinking about him since I'm forced to endure all her thoughts about him. Isn't that just brilliant!" Sophia groaned. Tom nodded. That did make sense. He couldn't imagine having a crush on someone, or falling in love. He had seen a few teenagers "in love", and they just seemed like addled fools. _I mean, what good does love do? Nothing that I can see,_ he thought with slight disgust.

"I can see why you're so upset, but don't worry about it," he reassured her. "After all, you have a lot to think about here now that you can do magic." Sophia nodded.

"Yeah, I'll think more about that," she vowed. As the days went by though, Sophia couldn't help but tell Tom what her future self was going through. She also told him about the bits of advice she'd throw, which seemed to work for her future self, such as not telling anyone about her crush. That way, her future self stayed friends with her crush. Tom agreed, especially if the boy didn't feel the same way back. _If he doesn't like her back, her crush on him is, really, a weakness_. Around this time, he had noticed Sophia look at Tom strangely. _Why is she looking at me like that?_ he wondered. _I'm sure nothing has changed about me_. Tom and Sophia's tenth and eleventh birthdays came and went, and then summer rolled around. Around July, Tom noticed something different about Sophia. She was a bit uneasy around him, almost nervous.

"Sophia, why are you nervous around me? I haven't done anything."

"Oh, nothing. I just don't want to always hang around you and possibly annoy you." Tom could tell that Sophia was lying, though. It was blatantly obvious. She had never seemed to worry about that before. She hung around him all the time, and she knew that he didn't hate it. He decided to let it go for now, though. _Maybe it's just something her future self said_, he told himself, trying to keep his curiosity at bay until he could find out more about it. One day, Mrs. Cole came into Tom's room.

"Tom! Oh Sophia, you're here too. I thought so. Good. You have a visitor!" In followed a strange man with an auburn beard. _Brilliant. Mrs. Cole probably noticed our magic and thinks that we're crazy. He has to be from the nuthouse_, Tom figured cynically. The man's eyes twinkled, and he seemed to smile at Tom, as if sharing an inside joke with him. Tom was puzzled. He looked over at Sophia, who seemed just as surprised.

"Hello," the man said. "I'm professor Dumbledore."

"You're from the nuthouse, aren't you? You have to be! I'm not crazy, and neither is Sophia!" Tom yelled.

"Shut up, Tom, and just listen! Sorry professor, please continue," Sophia said. _Wow! Sophia is worrying about being polite to someone who's probably a madhouse doctor! _he thought with disbelief.

"Thank you, Miss Anderson. Mr. Riddle, if you hadn't interrupted, I would've been able to tell you sooner that Hogwarts isn't a school for mad people. It's a school of magic." Tom and Sophia both looked astounded. _I knew there was something special about me_, Tom thought. _And Sophia was right, years ago, when she called my ability 'magic'. But I thought we were the only ones. There are others like us? And there's an entire school devoted to teaching this magic? _Tom didn't have time to dwell too much, because Sophia asked a question.

"M - magic, professor? Is that what Tom and I can do?" Tom heard Sophia ask.

"Yes indeed. You two are very special children, indeed."

"But we haven't got any money for tuition, books, and supplies and stuff." Tom replied, his heart sinking. Surely this professor Dumbledore realized that they didn't have any money?

"The school will provide the money for the books, supplies, and uniform. The tuition and board is free. The school goes from September to June." It dawned on Tom then. He would be escaping from this orphanage. Well, for at least most of the year. And he didn't have to give up his friendship with Sophia, which meant that he would know one person before he even got to Hogwarts. One thing nagged at him, though.

"Where are we going to get the supplies, professor?" Sophia asked, as if she read his thoughts.

"Ah, it's at the Leaky Cauldron. I can take you, if you'd like," professor Dumbledore offered, but Tom wanted to go alone; well, he wanted to go with Sophia, of course, but without an adult. He didn't want and adult intruding in and ruining his first glimpse of the magical world. He wanted to enjoy it in the way that only unsupervised children can, wandering around with only his friend, and talking without a grownup around. He also didn't want to have to rely on someone, anyone, besides himself.

"It's okay. We want to go ourselves," Tom said. He saw the look on Sophia face. She seemed to agree with him, but seemed upset by the fact that he voiced those thoughts.

"What he means, professor, is that we may want to take our time in enjoying our first glimpse of the magical world, and we don't want to tie you up, since you probably have other important things to do. Also, I dunno, the adults we've dealt with in our past have been uptight, and they always ruin our fun. Therefore, we're more used to doing things independently. We promise that we won't do anything stupid, sir," Sophia said politely and sweetly.

"Very well," the professor replied. He made a piece of paper and pencil appear out of nowhere, and wrote out something. "These are the instructions on how to get into the Leaky Cauldron, and then how to get to Diagon Alley from inside the Leaky Cauldron." He handed them to Tom, and then gave a pouch to Sophia and one to Tom.

"This is the money to buy supplies. I take it you two accept your place into Hogwarts?"

"Of course!" Tom and Sophia replied eagerly.

"Very well, then. I'll...erm...convince the matron to drive you two to the train station. Here are the tickets. To get onto platform 9 and 3/4, you must run into the barrier between platform 9 and 10. See you two at Hogwarts!" With that, the professor walked out. As soon as he did, Sophia rounded on Tom.

"Why did you have to be rude to him, Tom?" she demanded.

"Because - because he's a meddling fool!" Tom replied.

"I don't know why you think that, seeing as he's the one who gave us the escape route from this dump of a place, so you should at least be a little bit grateful. If not that, then you could've at least pretend to be grateful! I mean, I didn't want an adult with us on our first major step into the world where we rightfully belong, but you could've been a little politer. He'll probably think the worst of you before you've even arrived at Hogwarts!" Tom was surprised at her sudden outburst, but realized that Sophia was right. He had never had a reason to be polite to adults before, since they didn't care about him, but this professor seemed different. Now, though, he probably did think badly of Tom. Tom didn't want to rely too much on adults regardless, but this professor would have an influence on his education, so it wouldn't do to antagonize him. _But I wasn't that rude to him_, Tom thought. _If the professor thinks about it, my disbelief was only natural. He shouldn't hate me too much. He seems pretty nice, so if I make sure to be polite to everyone from now on, he should have no reason to dislike me_. Tom decided that Sophia was right about one thing. He was grateful for being able to escape the orphanage. No matter what he would eventually think of the people, he could always pretend to be pleasant. With this thought, Tom vowed to be the most perfect person the school would ever see.

**A.N. Thank you for sticking with me for this long. Now we're finally getting to the interesting part - Hogwarts! Thanks to ThePhantomismyLove for reviewing, and as for the others, review, review, review! **


	13. Diagon Alley

Sophia couldn't believe it. Her future self had read a book series called Harry Potter. Surprisingly, it was about the wizarding world. In it, a villain called Voldemort had killed Harry's parents, and had tried to kill Harry himself, who was only one at the time. Harry somehow survived, and the killing curse rebounded, nearly annihilating Voldemort. Later, Voldemort tried to kill Harry to get the Sorcerer's Stone and bring himself back to life, and failed again. Her future self loved the series, and eagerly read the second book. Sophia wanted to see what her future self read, because she also enjoyed the book. At the end of the second book, though, Sophia received a shock. Harry had encountered the teenage Voldemort through a diary. The teenage Voldemort's real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle, which was her Tom's full name. _Could it really be him?_ Sophia wondered anxiously. _Is that what he grows up to become? A Muggle-hating murderer who didn't stop at killing Muggles? Killing anyone is bad enough, and he kills so many? He tried to kill that poor little girl, Ginny? And he wouldn't have even been sorry about it?_ She was now nervous around him, not knowing what he was capable of now, not knowing exactly what his thoughts, feelings, and intentions were. Sophia realized that she was probably a bit obvious, but she couldn't help herself. It bothered her even more that she seemed to fancy him. _Wait, what? No! that was just my future self's infatuation rubbing off on me. He's a murderer,_ she thought. _But he hasn't done anything yet,_ another part of her argued. Sophia saw a new side to Tom's psychopathic streak, a side that could easily make him into the Lord Voldemort of the book series. _It's just a book though_, the logical side of her brain argued. _Why take it seriously? Tom is nice enough, even if he isn't the most social. He's your best friend, remember? A better friend than I or my future self has ever had_. _But there are too many coincidences. His name, the description of the magical world, even Professor Dumbledore! It has to be real._ The thought really pained her. _I can't believe this is what he becomes though, I just can't. Maybe that's why I was sent back in time_, she realized. _I am his best friend here too, just as he is mine. Or else he would've been totally alone here. He would've hated the other kids for bullying him and being mean to him, and he would've wanted revenge. So far, I've been able to stop him from horribly hurting Dennis and Amy and driving them to insanity, something he might have done otherwise. Maybe I can change things. I mean, if these are the only Muggles he's ever been around, I can see why he would hate them. But it's still no reason for him to become Lord Voldemort!_ Sophia couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for him though, and she was confused, torn between her heart, which reached out to Tom, and her mind, which recoiled from him because of his future.

When the professor had come from the school, initially, she had backed up Tom in wanting to go with him alone to Diagon Alley, but she later asked herself if that was a smart thing to do. She wasn't sure how much she trusted him. _For all I know, Tom might take all of the money that was supposed to be mine for the supplies. He might not give me my ticket! _However, she didn't want Tom to think anything was amiss, and she realized that those thoughts were ludicrous. Tom seemed to like her well enough, seemed to value her as a friend, so why would he want to keep her from going to Hogwarts with him? Plus, she also agreed with Tom and thought that it would be more fun going to Diagon Alley by themselves. And anyway, if Tom tried anything funny and she couldn't go to Hogwarts, she hoped that Dumbledore would realize. Surely he would, since he had magic.

They went to Diagon Alley the next day. The matrons didn't really seem to care that they were going by themselves. Tom and Sophia walked until they found the street they were supposed to be on. Then, they looked for the Leaky Cauldron. Tom and Sophia couldn't see it.

"Where is it?" Tom asked, frustrated.

"Oh, look! I see it!" Sophia exclaimed, finally noticing it. It was a tiny, dingy shop. The eyes of most of the people on the street moved from the shop on the left of the Leaky Cauldron to the one on the right.

"It's almost as if the Muggles can't see it," Tom remarked. "Come on." They walked inside. The barman smiled and greeted them.

"So, here to buy school supplies?" he asked kindly.

"Yes, sir," Sophia replied. The barman walked with them. In response to Tom's quizzical look, he replied:

"You'll need someone to tap the bricks with a wand to get in. Ah, here we are." He tapped five bricks in a circle, and the wall rearranged itself to create a doorway into Diagon Alley. Sophia and Tom couldn't contain their expressions of surprise. There was practically an entire town hidden within this tiny shop!

"Wow!" They exclaimed. They went in.

"Alright, we need '1 standard-sized cauldron, pewter'," Sophia read from her list. They walked in, and bought their cauldrons. They continued buying all of the items on their list. When they got to 'three sets of black robes', Tom and Sophia walked into Madam Malkin's. As they were sized for uniforms, a girl of about their age walked in with someone who looked like her mother. She had thick, bouncy light-brown hair, light-brown eyes, and a nice, bright smile.

"Are you guys getting your uniforms for Hogwarts too?" the girl asked brightly.

"Yes, are you?" Sophia asked.

"Yes. I'm Emma. Emma Bell."

"I'm Sophia, and this is my friend Tom," Sophia replied, pointing with her hand to where Tom was being sized. He merely replied with a quite 'hello'.

"What house do you hope to be in?" Emma asked.

"House?" Sophia asked. They had houses at a school?

"You're Muggleborn, aren't you?" Emma asked sympathetically. "It's always a big shock for them, since their parents can't tell them about Hogwarts, or any wizarding school as a matter of fact. Anyways, there are four Houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. 'Their nerve, daring, and chivalry' set Gryffindors apart. Hufflepuffs are 'just, loyal and unafraid of toil'. Ravenclaws have 'got a ready mind, there, those of wit and learning will always find their kind', and Slytherins are 'cunning folk who use any means to achieve their ends'. I hope to get into Gryffindor, but I suppose any house is fine. I don't think I'll be a Slytherin, because I think I'm anything but cunning, and I certainly don't use any means to achieve my ends. What about you guys?"

"I sound like a Ravenclaw. I don't think I'm particularly brave, but I suppose I won't really know until the first day of Hogwarts. What about you, Tom?" Sophia asked, pretty sure about his answer. She knew, from the books that her future self had read, that Tom was the heir of Salazar Slytherin and therefore was in the Slytherin house.

"I think Slytherin sounds cool," Tom said quietly. "They sound like they achieve whatever they want, and sound ambitious."

"So, are you guys alone? Where are your parents?" Emma asked innocently.

"They're dead," Sophia and Tom said at the same time, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Emma sounded near tears for her words.

"It's okay, Emma." Sophia said gently. "Oh, and I just remembered something that you had said earlier. You had asked us if we were Muggleborn. What's that?"

"Muggleborn wizards and witches are born from Muggle parents. That's possible, and happens quite a bit." Emma replied. "Some gits think that they are better wizards and witches because of their blood status. They're pureblood if their parents, grandparents, etc. all the way back were wizards or witches, and some, mostly Slytherin families, think that they're better simply because of that. I don't, though. I believe that a wizard is better or worse because of their ideals and abilities."

"Well, that's good then, because I'm Muggleborn." Sophia knew that she could say this confidently, because her parents couldn't do magic. As a matter of fact, her future self couldn't do magic, so how could she? _Just add it to the list of unsolved mysteries_, Sophia thought.

"I don't know," Tom said. "I grew up in the orphanage. Sophia came there when she was six." Emma was about to reply when her mother came in, signaling for her to leave.

"Well, I've got to go. See you guys at Hogwarts!" Emma, who was all done with sizing and whose mother was holding her robes, left.

"You two are done, too," the lady who was measuring them said. She gave them their uniforms, the two kids paid them, and they left.

"Now to the next part; books!" Tom sounded excited. They got all of their basic books, and paid for them. Sophia wished they could get the advanced books, but knew that they couldn't use the school's money to buy them yet. Well, at least they could get started on the school curriculum at the orphanage before school started. After she was done finding her school books, she browsed the other titles in the store. Her eyes caught sight of a book on a stand. It was titled 'Beauty Spells; Everything a Witch (or Wizard) needs to look their best!' She could feel her vain, girly side coming back, a side that had been repressed at the orphanage, where everybody wore shabby clothes and didn't get to shower too often. Sophia picked it up and leafed through it. One of the pages had a spell to straighten hair. "Rectum capillis, rectum capillis," Sophia memorized. She knew that she'd have to write it down.

"May I please borrow a paper and a pen? I'd like to write down the names of one of the books, so that I can buy it later," Sophia told the shopkeeper innocently. The shopkeeper obliged, and she wrote it down. On the next page, the spell to make it permanent was given. "Rectum comam semper," Sophia wrote. While she hadn't cared too much at the orphanage, now that Sophia was going to Hogwarts, she wanted to look her best. She wanted to look through the whole book, but Tom was looking at Sophia impatiently, though, so she quickly left.

"Now the best part; the wands!" Sophia was excited. This was the part that they were both waiting for. They got to Ollivander's and walked inside. An old, raspy voice greeted them.

"Hello. So, you are here for your first wands, are you not?" The children nodded. He looked at Sophia, then took out a wand. "Give it a wave," Ollivander said. Sophia waved it, and the wands of the shelf in front of her fell off. "Not the right one, obviously," she heard Ollivander mutter. What would the 'right wand' do? "Give this one a try." Sophia waved it again, and this time, nothing happened. "Never mind, never mind. Here, try this one." As soon as Sophia picked that wand up, she felt a surge of power. As she waved it, a burst of rainbow-colored sparks shot out from it. "This is it!" Ollivander exclaimed. "Twelve inches, oak, unicorn hair. Now, young man, it's your turn." Sophia watched as Tom went through about a dozen wands before Ollivander reached up and picked up a wand. Its box was velvet and dusty. Sophia already knew what was in the wand. "I wonder," Ollivander muttered. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches, yew, phoenix feather. Very powerful wand indeed. Try it." Tom looked delighted to hear that this wand was powerful, and waved it eagerly. Green sparks shot out. "That'll be one galleon for each of your wands, please." They handed over the wands and left eagerly.

"Yes! We have our wands! Now, we can do magic at the orphanage. We can practice some of the spells before school starts." Sophia was very excited. She couldn't wait to try them out, especially the one burning a hole on a piece of paper in her pocket. They walked back to the orphanage, and Sophia almost forgot about the Harry Potter books. Almost.


	14. Hogwarts Express

At the orphanage, instead of reading books about math and science like they used to, Tom and Sophia worked on spells from their spellbooks. Eventually, they could levitate objects, transfigure matchsticks into needles, and had mastered all other spells from their spellbooks, seeing as they had over twelve hours to work on spells. They figured that it would be dangerous to practice making potions at a Muggle orphanage without being caught, but they read through the books to get an idea of various potions' contents. _It's more fun than chemistry_, Tom thought. He noticed that Sophia ignored her 'History of Magic' and 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' books.

"I hate history and biology," she explained simply. Instead, she spent longer on her other books, and he noticed her sneak out a few nights to look through the telescope she had bought.

"Magical telescopes are so cool!" she exclaimed when she saw that Tom noticed her outside one night.

Soon, it was the day that they were going to Hogwarts. Tom had all of his luggage packed, in which he brought his encyclopedias because they were the only things besides his magical items that he had in terms of luggage. He didn't trust the orphanage children to leave those precious books intact. He dragged his luggage and found Mrs. Cole, who would be driving Tom and Sophia to the train station. Sophia showed up ten long minutes later. He saw her and his jaw dropped. Her hair was straight. It was perfectly straight and smooth. _How had she done that?_ She had also seemed to have taken extra care to scrub her face clean, and she looked...pretty. Tom quickly shook that thought away.

"Come on, Sophia. We're going to be late." Tom said.

"Sorry, Tom," Sophia replied. "Let's go." Mrs. Cole put their luggage in the trunk and drove them to the station. She helped them put their luggage on two different carts, and then left. "Okay," Sophia said. "So we find platforms nine and ten, and run between them." They found them. "Okay Tom, you first."

"Scared already, Sophia? Surely, you won't end up in Gryffindor," Tom smirked, and then ran into the brick wall. He came out on the other side, and saw a huge red train that said 'Hogwarts Express' at the front. Sophia followed a minute later. They got their luggage off the carts and, using 'Wingardium Leviosa', levitated their luggage onto the train's luggage compartment.

"Wow! You guys can do spells already?" a familiar voice rang out. Tom turned around. It was Emma, the girl from Madam Malkin's.

"Yes, Emma, we practiced," Sophia replied.

"You guys must be talented, Soph," the girl replied. "But you won't be able to get away with it when you go back over the summer. Once you go to school, you won't be able to do magic over the summer, especially around Muggles. There's something called the Trace that detects the use of magic in underage wizards. If they detect you guys doing magic, you get expelled. You weren't caught now because you hadn't been to school, so they'll count it as accidental magic." Emma finished.

"That's stupid," Tom retorted. "How are we supposed to remember what we learned, then?"

"I agree, Tom, but what can we do?" Emma sighed. "And Soph, what did you do to your hair? I like it!" Tom felt irritated at Sophia's nickname. Soph sounded stupid, while Sophia sounded more mature, older. _I refuse to call her by some silly nickname_, he grimaced. Sophia seemed to like her new nickname, though, probably for the exact opposite reasons.

"I straightened it. I found a charm in a book at Flourish and Blott's. It was 'rectum capillis'." _Oh. So that's what she was writing down. I didn't think she was girly or vain_, Tom thought. _But I suppose she wanted to make a good first impression on the other kids here. That was smart_. Tom looked mostly clean, which was the best you could hope for at the orphanage, but he knew he should make more of an effort to look sharp at Hogwarts. _After all, people do tend to judge other's based on appearances, and I want to let everyone know that I'm the best_, he thought confidently.

"Should we go find a compartment?" Tom asked. They went and found a compartment. He'd have time to talk to other's later, he knew, but right now, people only seemed to be sitting with those they knew.

"Sure!" Emma replied. Emma seemed overly cheerful, but kind. The Hogwarts Express started, and Tom looked out the window to see tearful parents waving to their children. He felt a pang of envy. _I wish my parents were waving to me like that. _He quickly shook that momentary thought away. _But I don't need to be missed. It doesn't matter, and it would just create unnecessary pain. Besides, I don't need parents. I am perfectly capable on my own, and wishing otherwise is weakness_. On the way, Tom and Sophia talked to Emma about the spells that they had learned. Tom was delighted to know that Emma hadn't looked through her books at all. _If everyone is like her, then I'll be the top of the class easily. Even Sophia isn't as dedicated to her studies as I am. She does hate at least history and Herbology, and slacks off in it_. Tom felt almost gleeful at the prospect. But then, to his dismay, Emma started talking about how she had been flying on her broomstick all summer, hoping to get on the Quidditch team, even though first years hadn't been let in for forty-six years, as Emma had put it. Even though Tom wasn't that interested in sports, it pained him to realize that there might be one thing that he wasn't good at, as useless as Tom may consider Quidditch to be. And flying just couldn't be learned out of a book.

"Wow! Quidditch sounds exciting!" Sophia said delightedly. "I can't wait until we learn how to fly! Maybe I might be relatively decent." Tom could see the hope and excitement in Sophia's face, a sharp contrast to his queasy dread. Then, a witch came pushing a cart full of an assortment of sweets. Tom looked hungrily, his stomach rumbling, and saw the same look on Sophia's face. They both knew, however, that they couldn't afford it. Emma, however, perked up and took out a jingling pouch that Tom assumed had money in it.

"Give me three Chocolate Frogs, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, and three pastries please." The witch took out the various sweets and gave them to Emma.

"That'll be two galleons, eight sickles." Emma paid the woman, and she left. Emma gave one chocolate frog and one pastry to Tom and Sophia each, and opened the box of beans and split them between the three people. _Well, maybe there are kinder people out there_, Tom thought with some surprise. _It just seems like the non-magical folk are mean, and then again, they don't understand magical people. They think we're freaks. But the magical folk, they are nice._

"Thanks, Emma," Sophia replied with a mouth full of beans. Tom smirked at Sophia's manners - or, rather, lack of them.

"You're welcome. Oh, and I should've warned you before, when they say Every Flavor, they mean every flavor. Once, I seem to have gotten an earwax flavored one." Just then, Sophia groaned.

"Ugh. I tasted something gross. Tasted like broccoli or something of the sort." Sophia said disgustedly. Tom ate his carefully and was happy to find that he didn't get any strange-flavored beans.

"Emma, are the Chocolate Frogs actual frogs?" Tom asked.

"No, of course not. They just look like frogs, and have a charm that makes them jump, so be careful. They've only got one good jump in them, though."

"Well, you can never tell with the wizarding world. I mean, Bertie Bott's beans are every flavored." Tom replied. The friends talked happily the whole way there. Before they knew it, it had started getting dark.

"We should change into our robes," Emma stated. Emma, Sophia, and Tom went to their respective bathrooms and changed. Then, the train stopped, and everyone started getting out.

"We're there!" Emma said excitedly. Tom couldn't wait to see Hogwarts in its full glory.


End file.
